Pathogenesis of Severe Asthma

Abstract

Patients with severe asthma suffer tremendously in their quality of life, and the disease management is often ineffective and weary. Although considerable effort has been concentrated to understand the pathophysiology and variability of treatment response in severe asthma and to develop new therapies, to date, many unknowns of severe asthma are still remained. For the appropriate treatment and prevention of severe asthma, many questions concerning the pathogenesis of severe asthma must be answered. In addition, identification of various types of asthma and better understanding of the mechanisms underlying each type of severe asthma are crucial for the future personalized medicine of the patients. In this chapter, recent advances in pathogenesis of severe asthma will be highlighted, specifically about the type of severe asthma defined as failure to achieve control with maximum doses of corticosteroid therapies (i.e., refractory severe asthma).